Alex Trelinski
THE Balearic Islands Medical Union has predicted a ‘chaotic’ summer for hospitals and primary care facilities in the region.
Union president, Miguel Lazaro, says there will not be enough doctors and substitutes to cover summer leave, coupled with an anticipated big influx of tourists with the number expected to exceed totals last seen in 2019.
“With these two variables combined, it can be deduced that this summer will be worse than last year,” he said.
Lazaro described it as an ‘unassumable’ situation and stated that the ‘saturation of hospital emergency departments and a work overload for doctors and substitute staff will return’.
IB-Salut has said that summer planning has not yet started for health centres as it is something that is usually done after Easter.
Mallorca’s Son Espases Hospital is currently looking at summer holiday requests and mapping out the season to organise staffing.
“Things are going to get worse,” insisted Miguel Lazaro.
“What is surprising is the absence of planning with something that can be foreseen and that is passively accepted,” he claimed.
Lazaro said there’s a lack of doctors especially in Primary Care and that the situation would be worse but for the hiring of recently qualified medics from Central and Southern America.
“The situation is overloaded leaving professionals and patients as its victims,” he concluded.
